Xiang83

I can tolerate drama-Ye Xian being different from the novel (because Winwin is doing a decent to good job of emoting, depending on what the scene is), but this is the scene that really annoys me how once again, another great ML character gets warped beyond recognition by screenwriters to enable ML and FL to wind up together.

Spoilers are all over weibo, and someone compiled a video of very specific spoilers using scenes not yet aired, of Chen Xuanqing and Ye Xian and Ci Sha.

I can share the video with you. If you prefer not to see, that's fine too,

I like Ci Sha and Winwin. I don't see the need to pick between them or compare them, because it would be ridiculous. Their career trajectories are so different. Winwin is definitely way better on a dance stage than Ci Sha. And it is obvious that Winwin and Ci Sha are different male actor prototypes. Having a variety of quality male prototypes only makes for more enjoyable viewership for dramas and movies, and I would like to see Winwin in movies at some point in bigger roles (all depending on his acting improvements, of course).

Deng Enxi and Winwin will be an interesting combination. The Director's dramas tend to be broadcast on TV, so of course that drama will wind up on Hunan TV or CCTV.

https://www.weibo.com/7417786864/QEzsK8ZD0

If people are wondering about the meaning of the entire OP song for "Zhao Zhao Adventures",
Diary Lyrics has posted Chinese, pinyin, and English lyrics in their translation of "Lone Sword Ballad" (孤剑吟) sung by Zhou Shen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk5ulDxuXLE

One undeniable fact is that WInwin can project significant stage presence in a drama, in which he doesn't need many tricks that Directors resort to, to improve the "marketability" of a star. I can recognise that, also because his stage presence reminds me a bit of Chen Lijun and Li Yuxiao. There are a fair number of idol actors and actresses who simply don't have that stage presence, needing camerawork and music to do the lifting. That is why they can look great in a drama, but cannot go into movies. or flop at the box office.

I also reckon his list of dramas should be much shorter than Wang XIngyue, because K-Ent can be demanding. Anyone who qualifies for a Yuen Woo-ping movie and whom Yuen Woo-ping is willing to give extensive advice to (during 3 months of training then shooting on top of that) is someone I'll respect. Yuen Woo-ping puts his action stars through a very gruelling process, and one of his selection criteria is asking straight out whether the person can take his hardships.

He had a smaller role than Ci Sha in "Blades Of The Guardians", and I was curious to see what Winwin's acting would be like, after having worked with Yuen Woo-ping. "Perfect Match" was filmed before filming commenced for "Blades Of The Guardians". while I remember "A Splendid Match" was filmed after the filming for "Blades Of The Guardians".

In this drama, Winwin's Ye Xian as a character is an uneven cannon for more than 10 episodes because his family is really screwed up (I don't want his parents or his sister), and the 'awesome' parenting style I am seeing from his father towards him makes me want to shove the Marquis into an isolated room for a year to reflect. I'm surprised Ye Xian has a strong sense of what is right and wrong on some matters, instead of being a completely spoilt cruel basket case with an inferiority complex.

Ye Xian improves naturally as a character, which means Ye Xian is still uneven but less so. I have seen quite a few spoilers for the ending.

I must say that my biggest problem with this drama is the writing and pacing going way too much into the Gu family arc and family politics for more than 10 episodes and hence killing the momentum of the first 3 episodes wrt political intrigue, which makes many parts of this drama "A Splendid Bore" for me by episode 20. For the more plot-driven viewers, it can appear that the political aspects are merely salad dressing for the family politics and romance. I have no trouble with the romance, but the family politics really needed more balance and editing with the political intrigue.

The outdoor shots are also gorgeous, with such natural healthy hues. Check out this official poster:

https://www.weibo.com/7353480082/QFa40x09Q

And of course, the outdoor sets also incorporating buildings and carriages:

https://www.weibo.com/6025848747/QFdaEbDzx

The architecture is fantastic. I'm always eyeing the corridors whenever there's a scene in them XD

I am curious to know how each of the leads get into character. I don't know about Ren Min and Winwin. As far as I know, Ci Sha always has a specific process (it usually starts with an essay) and then incorporates some habits of the character. For Chen Yanyun, here he is in casual wear but ready to immerse mentally and emotionally, with tea and incense while practising calligraphy:

https://www.weibo.com/3893990834/QDkOCoerU

To be fair to Winwin, Winwin started a lot later in C-Ent compared to Ci Sha because Winwin was in K-Ent (music). He was accepted to Central Drama Academy, but I don't think he's done his time there yet.

Ci Sha's trajectory- I am more familiar, with also because he reminds me a lot of the HK movie stars of 70s, 80s, and 90s in his focus and work.

For someone who is much more disadvantaged on the acting front, I reckon Winwin is doing a decent job in emoting (he's surprised me here), and I believe some traditional opera training would enhance and bring out his strongest traits while further improving his balance of subtleties, thereby making him very suitable for historical period dramas or movies. He listened to Yuen Woo-ping during the training and shooting for "Blades Of The Guardians" that occurred before the shooting for "A Splendid Match", and I believe it shows in his acting here.

Of all the celebrities I want to see as a wuxia heroine in movies and dramas, it is Chen Lijun but unfortunately, that 33-year-old Yue Opera veteran isn't doing a drama anytime soon, since she is a sold-out sensation in Yue Opera alongside Lu Yuxiao.

Ci Sha is more strongly focused on movies, hence he's done more movie time than dramas. Grueling training and rounds of qualification for the "Creation Of The Gods" trilogy really helped. And he has a very interesting process for getting into character, which I read about.

He's been in blockbuster after blockbuster besides the "Creation Of The Gods" series, including "The Shadow's Edge", "Blades Of The Guardians" which is the highest grossing wuxia film of all time globally, and not-yet-aired "Mastermind" with Louis Koo and Simon Yam. He's also finished shooting modern movie《花花女子》 with Gao Ye in March 2026 (the movie is tentatively titled "Things Beyond Romance" on MDL). "The Way Home" with Li Landi hasn't aired yet.

It's much more difficult to succeed at the box office, because that's when the audience of all generations will judge, and there's no clear separation between idol-drama watchers and non-idol drama watchers. He can do idol dramas, if he wants to. But his focus on movies is definitely something I gladly agree with. I need more movie stars who have such presence and capability.

It's about time for Cheng Yi to do more of these roles in dramas, where romance is non-existent or secondary (and very marginal). That's when his best acting comes out, which was the case in "Vendetta of An". Xu Kai also fared quite well in "Eight Hundred".

Let's see if he returns after episode 20.

LYX doesn't pay protection money to db, so his dramas always get the short end of the stick.

They deserve kudos. The architecture is also impressive. I'm enjoying any scenes in corridors.

I was tongue-in-cheek about kidnapping Ye Xian. Ye Xian would be easier if he is just Ye Xian, but Dong Sicheng did some intensive martial arts training for "Blades Of The Guardians". Combine that with his classical dance background, and Winwin aka Dong Sicheng is likely to still inflict some damage in hand-to-hand combat even without dual swords. I'm lazy on that.

I really like what Yuen Woo-ping told Winwin about martial arts.

[ “Many young people want to be good kung fu movie actors, but it’s not something you can just ‘hope’ to achieve. Acting in kung fu movies is very hard work. You have to be unafraid of hard work, and you also have to learn acting. You can’t just know how to fight; if your acting is bad, it’s useless. ‘Acting within the fighting’ is the highest level, which is quite difficult to achieve, and it’s rare for newcomers to be able to do that.” When talking about this topic, Yuen Woo-ping’s tone suddenly became unquestionable.

"He said that martial arts is not just about performing the moves, but also about revealing who the person is. He taught us not only martial arts movements, but also the ideas behind them." This concept of kung fu film creation, which Dong Sicheng deeply understood, was something that Yuen Woo-ping, though he didn't say to the actors he worked with at the time more than 30 years ago, truly and forever left in his works through his actions. ] - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1334175717342538/posts/2099082627518506/

Episode 13 had some bright moments such as a great conversation between Yanyun and Jinzhao butbutbut- I feel sad for Jinzhao's mother. So I'll settle for- Episode 16, please get back to political intrigues.

You made a comment. People give replies. That's the nature of any website with interactions. Just because I write something longer than a Twitter comment doesn't mean it isn't chill, so it would be polite to not paint my comment as something else simply because you can't take a civil reply that doesn't agree with you.

You said her acting is fine, then you said she does not have a "main character face". That's naturally confusing to anyone who can't figure out what you're saying, but one of your statements in your comment comes across as implying something mindbogglingly irrelevant and unpleasant about her looks that is natural to her, with or without makeup. Hope this helps you understand why I'm not the only one replying to you.

It's fine to not know anything about Ming Dynasty standards of beauty. If someone doesn't like the acting of an actor or actress, that's fine by me. May you enjoy the rest of the drama, if you finish it :)

Jet Li's earliest movies were wonderful, showcasing his mastery of various schools in martial arts. Have you watched "Blades of The Guardians"? Jackie Chan isn't in that, but Yuen Woo-ping who pioneered the comedy-action approach (which Jackie Chan is famous for) is the Director of that movie, which is now the highest-grossing wuxia film of all time internationally and domestically.

MDL is also the place where I learn people can lecture me about what a scene means or what characters actually mean when they need subtitles in a C-drama to understand anything said in the drama, while I'm not in that same boat. At one point, I decided to point out how IQiyi subtitles were wrong for a scene involving translation of a Yuan zaju in another drama:

https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24049694
https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24049698

That's a drama whereby the mandarin title is a reference from a chinese classical literature source pertaining to ci poetry in Northern China, specifically the Song Dynasty, and understanding the mandarin title would mean instantly understanding the story of the drama is about the journey and character traits of the male protagonist. This requires knowing the story of how one of the Eight Great Prose Masters Su Shi wound up using 水龙吟 in his pioneering work of haofang (bold and unconstrained lyrics school), and also understanding the reference of the fox-dragon in 太平广记 to understand the official drama poster and how it ties to the drama title. There are lovely people here whom I am happy to know, and then I get interesting surprises.

I would be happy to see Ren Min in another drama. This is my first drama watching her, and I am enjoying her performance here with Ci Sha and Winwin. Nowadays modern Chinese beauty standards for idol dramas is too unhealthy: utilising too many filters, too much makeup, and too much slo-mo plus quick-cut scenes to try to camouflage a lack of capable wirework or actual action capabilities in dramas. There are enough toxic quacks in the idol C-drama fandoms going on about looks, and it is sad that MDL also has this.

I am very curious about whether Ren Min can nail comedy, since I don't have much exposure to her. She is adorable and funny in the promotions for "A Splendid Match".

Anyway, someone asked about C-Ent, so I shared a few details for how to measure success in current C-Ent here:

https://kisskh.at/752183-bloom-life#comment-26061962

I suggest you digest whatever I and JJJ have shared first. It's a lot. C-Ent is toxic, but so are western fandoms whose obsessions can be quite scary as well.

As to A-List and whatnot, there are things I won't say publicly because some people on MDL don't like objective realistic facts and details. What I will say is that if you're a bigger star with more clout, you can afford to do less dramas instead of constantly working in dramas without breaks, you will be able to get a good supporting role in a mega-production movie, and you can secure good scripts with good to great characterisations that you want without being typecast (if the artist wants that).

Those who are constantly working are usually not big enough to have the final say on which scripts they choose, meaning their agency has a bigger say. So they have to work hard, until they can have the bigger say of scripts and take proper breaks. I don't discount the possibility of workaholics. Noteworthy endorsements are the gigantic luxury brands as options, which includes making you a brand ambassador. If you are of a certain level of clout, you can demand to see the entire script instead of a standard length not exceeding 10 episodes' worth.

Bai Jingting is an example of a star who demands to see the entire script, before he signs on for a project. He has the clout to do so, and is the Brand Ambassador for Louis Vuitton plus House Ambassador for Cartier. Luo Yunxi insists on seeing the entire script before signing. He doesn't have such endorsements, but MangoTV at one point started a bidding war over his next project. Which other platforms have started a bidding war over an artist? His projects create revenue for years, for areas such as tourism and he gets acknowledged for it. The financials are in, where his drama that aired in Q4 2025 significantly boosted MangoTV's financials in ads and more, breaking profit records for MangoTV along the way. Very few dramas can do so for a platform. Luo Yunxi doesn't need magazine covers or hot searches. His IP sales rank number 1 and 2 above all other artists in C-dramas. "Whispers of Fate" 1st episode aired to at least 160 million views according to CVB, the drama hit more than 1 billion views on Monomax Thailand, this drama was massively profitable even before airing because of the ad space and company competition for being chosen for ad space, and IQiyi being a competitor platform to Mango also bought billboards in Central HK for the drama which also played on IQiyi.

Success is best measured in the quality of endorsements, the types of companies who buy ads in a drama, and ultimately the hard reality of revenue. Inflated data happening for any idol dramas in C-Ent cannot substantiate for all this, and we know this happens every year. International non-mandarin speaking fans usually get these wrong in the bigger picture, hence misleading others. Waving a Yunhe statistic or a Douban statistic as a primary indicator claiming this is why a drama is successful is an example of not understanding how to view the statistics. IQiyi is always perpetually almost in embarrassing financial straits.

Ci Sha is very successful in movies (most C-drama idol actors fail at the box office because the big screen is a lot more exacting, and you can't hide or boost an actor or actress with production traits usually be done in dramas through slo-mo, excessive filters, etc, plus the domestic audience will vote with their preferences via their wallets), and for him to do dramas can be perceived as a delight to remind the audiences of his stellar acting skills.

Among non-idol drama watchers, the likes of IQiyi night, Tencent Night, etc means nothing. The ones that are considered credible and prestigious and worth noting by my friends would be the Golden Rooster, Huading Awards and Wenrong Awards. Golden Rooster is the equivalent of the Oscars.

Then there are the flying Apsaras Awards, Golden Eagle Awards and Magnolia Awards. Here's some info on these awards and who won:

https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Three%20Major%20TV%20Drama%20Awards%20in%20China/1431004

International non-mandarin idol drama watchers probably only recognise Zhao Liying in that list. Qin Hailu and Zhou Xun are the next easiest to recognise.

Lin Yi is classified as an idol actor. I don't know enough about him. All I know is that he is in the drama "A-Chan" with Ai Mi, who has been in C-Ent for more than 10 years as an actress and she can act capably in a non-idol or idol drama. Ai Mi is one of three artists to win "Rising Young Actor" at the Wenrong Awards in November 2025, and she is ranked third nationwide for the recent Beijing Film Academy entrance exams with her score, also the top-ranked female. She was congratulated for this on 20 April at the IQiyi World Conference by the hostess promoter in the group interview room, where the likes of Neo Hou also happily congratulated her for this with cheers and applause. Neo Hou praised her to the skies during their promo event for the not-yet-aired KTTPH drama, revealing tidbits such as how impressed he was by her stellar acting and emoting intensity ever since "Fangs of Fortune" where he first had any acting scenes and interactions with her.

I prefer C-Ent productions over Hollywood or American drama series produced after 2005 because frankly, too much unnecessary PDA in US productions where stories don't touch me and seem to be sensationalist and tacky and showy instead of depth, not sufficiently story-oriented and character-oriented. I tend to pay attention to non-idol artists (first category) or those who can capably straddle idol and non-idol C-Ent productions wanting to create the necessary to cross over into non-idol dramas and/or movies (Ci Sha, Bai Jingting and Luo Yunxi fall into this second category). For idol artists, you should ask those who are fans of the artist.

This will be my last comment on this subject on this page, otherwise it will completely derail the page and isn't fair to the cast of "Bloom Life". Anything else, you can ask me via DMs.

I like Li Landi and the other actresses for this drama. Any further comments from me on this page will be at other threads for "Bloom Life". Li Landi is an actress I consider capable in the second category, and I look forward to her next filming project. I was very bummed, when one of her dramas with a Director I like has been shelved for more than 4 years. For now, all I have is the not-yet-aired "The Way Home" where she acts opposite Ci Sha.

I would be happy to see Li Landi act opposite Zhang Yishan (he is also a child star like Ai Mi but earlier generation, and he is friends with Yang Zi), who is one of my favourite actors and in the Republican-era 2025 drama "The Guardians", he slayed me. Here is my non-spoiler review of that amazing drama and performances: https://kisskh.at/profile/Xiang83/review/508286

Hearing new things on MDL is sometimes puzzling. After watching at least 30 years of C-Ent, "main character face" is a new concept I've never heard before in being lumped together with looks, which the OP mentions.

If I hear that in the acting context, it refers to authentic nuanced acting without poor stilted performances eg wooden eyes with exaggerated expressions or insufficient expressions. Expressions must be naturally evocative and eye acting has to be convincing. Has nothing to do with the natural features of an actor or actress.

Ren Min is pretty. She has a "melon-seed" face to go with small well-shaped lips that are charming and carrying a hint of spirit. Her brows are thin, long and gently curving like a willow leaf. Ming Dynasty makeup is usually lighter, to emphasise natural beauty. Elegant and slender, Gu Jinzhao is indeed a beauty who meets the favoured standards of the Ming Dynasty, naturally portrayed by Ren Min whose acting I am enjoying, and I hope she will make this an iconic role.

"Main character face" as a WTFisthat concept doesn't apply to Ren Min when pertaining to looks. Main character face for acting definitely applies to Ren Min.

I will appreciate Winwin's time as Ye Xian in this drama for as long as it lasts, because the OP drama animation gives me unfortunate foreshadowing for his character. Then I went searching for specific details to see how he develops as a character and matches the foreshadowing of the OP animation.

Song 4 which I shared in the song compilation here also confirms his fate:

https://kisskh.at/762395-liang-chen-mei-jin#comment-26054002

*sighs** Song 4 is my favourite song, which can be seen from the POV of Ye Xian or Gu Jinzhao. I need to pick happier songs. One of the saddest songs in "Whispers of Fate" is one of my two favourite songs from that drama.

Gu Jinzhao has two men who love her. She will learn about that. I am internally hoping I'm totally wrong. But with my luck, only one of them will live as per leaked details I saw.

Well, Gu Jinzhao must adapt to run a household after episode 14. I would have liked a reverse harem, if only for a short while. After all, she did advocate divorce to her biological mother.

For anyone hunting for the music of this drama?

Here are six songs out so far (mandarin no subs):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPBVDWdin3o&list=PLW1ad9MR3XBWVH7mcvM0wJNDc3ub0sgT0

1)《共醉 》- sung by 蔡明希 (Cai Ming Xi)... Image of Chen Yanyun
2)《自生光》- sung by 袁一琦 (Yuan Yiqi) ... Image of Gu Lan
3)《問流光》-sung by 阿YueYue... Image of Chen Yanyun with Gu Jinzhao
4)《困》by -sung by 井朧 (Jing Long)... Image of Ye Xian
5)《歲歲朝夕》-sung by 希林娜依高 (Curley Gao).... Image of Gu Jinzhao with Chen Yanyun
6)《星晝》 -sung by 周深 (Zhou Shen)

For those wanting English translations for the lyrics with the music, here are the efforts of Diary Lyrics, which I post below to correspond with the above order of songs:

(1) Mutual Intoxication - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dD_fNgGZPE
(2) Light From Within- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuezZWET4Zg
(3) Ask The Flowing Time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qq0bKKbp9I
(4) Trapped - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47KqFceEd5Y
(5) Every Year Every Day - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0WocUAOQ6M
(6) Starlit Day - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aEk4iMRmFA

The family scheming is quite easy to keep up with. Hence I'm getting a bit bored. The competent villain I'm expecting later should be tied to those topics. Hopefully not too much later. I would like to return to the tension, intrigue, details and style of camerawork tied to these two issues in the first three episodes, including certain exchanges between Ci Sha and older actors.

I still consider the exchange between Ci Sha and William Wu in episode 3 to be the most epic and emotionally-heart-wrenching exchange for me in this drama, at this point. Second is... That's very tough. So many wonderful exchanges between Ren Min, Ci Sha, and Winwin. I also like Zuo Ye in that mix.

I'll settle for Chen Yanyun's personal servant looking incredibly kerflummoxed by his master's unusually flustered mindset being totally unlike a Confucian purist in episode 12 XD